Sandpoint quartet battles weather, top competition at state tennis tourney

With persistent rainstorms throughout the Boise area and IDHSAA officials scrambling to find a venue to hold 64 tennis matches at a moment’s notice, four Sandpoint girls tennis players responded to the situation they were dealt by all finishing 1-2 in state action. The Bulldogs brought singles players Jenny Slaveck and Hadley Goodvin, plus the two-woman wrecking crew of Tessa Beeman and Allura Livingston to the 4A State Tennis Tournament last weekend.

“The playing conditions were difficult and the competition was unreal,” Sandpoint tennis head coach Kent Anderson wrote in an email. “Our girls team played exceptionally well and I was impressed with every minute they played. It’ll be hard to say goodbye to the incredible seniors on this team.”

Perhaps it was the experience, skill or a mix of the two, but three of Sandpoint’s state-qualifying athletes were seniors. In retrospect, the former quality helped the Bulldogs adapt to the weather-addled tournament, which featured abbreviated no-ad scoring, shortened warm-ups and eventually eight-game, pro sets with no-ad scoring.

Regardless of the handful of challenges that the last-second scoring change brought — abbreviated matches, by nature, favor players and teams that start strong as opposed to those that gradually gain momentum throughout tennis’ usual multi-hour matches — Sandpoint’s girls doubles team of Tessa Beeman and Allura Livingston won the first round matchup against Twin Falls’ Isabel Manning and Laurel Thompson, 6-0, 6-1.

“Allura and Tessa flew in their first round match,” Anderson said. “They both were firing on all cylinders with big, consistent first serves and great poaching at the net.”

The win set up a match versus Hillcrest’s doubles team of Emily Biddulph and Nicole Griggs. In Anderson’s eyes, this match astounded the crowd.

“Allura and Tessa played at their highest levels,” Anderson said. “It was truly the greatest match of Tessa’s high school career as she chased down cross-court drives from side to side, hitting with power and finesse every time.”

After falling behind in the first set 4-2, Beeman and Livingston stormed back to take the second set 7-5, setting up a third-set tiebreaker. The duo’s second set even managed to astound their long-time head coach.

“It was an impressive and somewhat shocking comeback,” Anderson said. “Set two was a complete war.”

Hillcrest’s team finally prevailed in a back-and-forth battle, winning in an emotional 6-2 tie-breaker that sent Sandpoint’s seniors to the consolation bracket. There, the team would face more than just Idaho Falls’ Whitney Black and Rachel Harris. Livingston had to face the eventual third-place team while ill.

“Allura played her usual self: Strong, solid and smart — even though she was fighting off dizziness and dehydration,” Anderson said. “The girls took the full 90 second break at every switchover to try to regroup and rehydrate.”

Unlike their first matches against Hillcrest’s team, the consolation brackets were played with abbreviated eight-game pro sets. Anderson suspects the quick turnaround from the Hillcrest match, plus the change in scoring format were too formidable for even the most experienced of teammates to overcome.

“The previous Hillcrest match proved to be too emotionally draining as they watched their shots just miss,” Anderson said. “This year’s tournament was a great end to their high school careers and I’ve cherished every minute coaching and hitting with them.”

Meanwhile in singles play, both Slaveck and Goodvin bowed out of state by taking different paths. Slaveck won her first-round game, then ran into trouble during the second round game before losing in the consolation bracket. Goodvin, on the other hand, took a first-round loss, then tried to stage a run in the consolation bracket with a first-round win before eventually falling in the second round.

Sandpoint’s No. 1 singles player Slaveck used her trademark serves and dexterous placement to find success throughout the tournament. Her 6-2, 6-3 first-round win over Alyssa Coates especially stood out to her coach.

“Her serve was working and almost un-hittable,” Anderson said. “It was so much fun watching Jenny’s court movement and shot location.”

In yet another unfortunate luck of the draw that seemed to impact every Sandpoint player, Slaveck ran into eventual fourth-place winner Aujin Nielsen out of Ridgevue in the second round.

“Her second round match was extremely tough,” Anderson said. “Jenny played her tough to the end but was unable to prevail against [Nielsen’s] left-handed power.”

Slaveck would eventually fall to Wood River’s Lily Brunell 8-1 in the consolation bracket’s second round.

Something about opponents with different spellings of “Nielsen” seemed to stymie Sandpoint’s singles players. Century’s Grace Neilsen sent Goodvin to the consolation bracket with a three-set, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win. But Goodvin found her momentum in the consolation bracket to impress her coach.

“Hadley stepped up and played the best singles of her high school career,” Anderson said. “It was amazing to see her up her game under the pressure of a State Tournament.”

In the consolation bracket, Goodvin’s ground strokes carried her to the next round in an 8-5 win.

“The points were unbelievable and Hadley’s classic ground strokes were almost flawless,” Anderson said. “Her second match was a big win as she continued hitting with authority.”

Yet Goodvin was matched up with Idaho Falls’ Lillian Crone in the next round, who won 8-5 in a match that was closer than the score indicated.

“Amazingly, [Goodvin] played her dead-even for the bulk of the match,” Anderson said. “She was just a few points away from coming away with the win.”

Although the 2019 4A State Tennis Tournament was curtains for seniors Livingston, Beeman and Slaveck, Goodvin will return next season.